Submitted by Opal Fay Oxley(The original date of this story is unknown)
Letters come to the Birdseye Indiana Town Hall from all across the United States. They will ask the same question. How did Birdseye get its name? Town clerk Charlene Atkins has a difficult time answering these questions. No one seems to know for sure.
Local history has it that when the Dubois County Indiana town began in 1883, several names were suggested, but rejected by the Post Office.
One suggestion was Bird for the Rev. Bird Johnson, postmaster at Wirth (now Schnellville), Johnson was invited to help select the Post Office site. When he decided on the location, he reportedly said, This spot suits Birds eye to a T.
Kathy Stroud, an assistant to Mrs. Atkins, said a friend in Indianapolis wondered if Birdseye was where they kept the frozen foods. Birds eye view jokes aren’t funny anymore to the 400 or so residents here.
It may be small, they say but its growing. The Patoka Lake project brought several new businesses to town, Mrs. Atkins said. Since the lake has gone in, we now have a new Dairy Barn and a bait and tackle shop, she said. Since then, we are noticing the difference in the number of people in town. We don’t see a lot of new businesses, but there haven’t been any that have closed.
Construction is almost complete on a bank and a clinic.
Mrs. Atkins, town board president Mike Berg and the two trustees are still becoming acclimated to their duties, Mrs. Atkins said. We’ve been in office now three months and it takes that long to begin to get things running smoothly, she said. We do want to see new industries move in and fix up and paint the buildings in town. Now the big topic at the meetings is the disagreement on the water system. They are always complaining their bills are too high. She is also learning the art of grantsmanship. They want to know exactly what you will use the money for before you even apply for a grant, Mrs. Atkins said. Its very specific when you are dealing with any kind of government aid. We tried for a grant for rehabilitation for the neighborhood, but we were ineligible because there weren’t enough homes in the area.
Like other small Tri-State communities, Birdseye has its troubles keeping a town marshal on the job.
We’ve had a lot of town marshals in the last year and a half, Mrs. Atkins said. After they serve a year, they are required to go to the police academy for 10 weeks training. It’s a part-time job and our budget is so small, they can’t afford it. We hope to have one hired by next month. In the meantime, residents have been enduring the fast drivers and noise from the motorcycles, Mrs. Atkins said.
She and Mrs. Stroud recently unearthed a musty, dusty, crumbling book of town records from the beginnings of Birdseye in 1883.
City ordinances prohibited profanity (by those 18 and older), rioting, routs, frays and racing either vehicles or animals. Any person riding, leading or driving any horse or animal or vehicle drawn by a horse or animal in a manner as to endanger person or property would be saddled with at $5 fine if convicted.
So would those who shall tie or hitch a horse or animal to any fence, shade tree or house to inconvenience or annoyance The book spells out clearly ordinances restricting gaming, gaming houses, houses of ill fame or a disorderly house.
Mrs. Atkins said her mother remembered the days when Birdseye was booming with factories and hotels. Then it hit a low and started to pick up, she said. We have hope. I stayed here, not because I had to, but because I wanted to. When there’s a death in the family, or a disaster, the closeness of the people is amazing. And when something good happens, they are there to rejoice with you.
The only difference between Birdseye and Evansville is there is only one department to call.
When the Rev. John Jackson was a child, a trip to Birdseye was a big event.
Jackson, 77, remembers coming to town on Saturdays with his father. I’d come here with overalls and bare feet. It was a big day, he said. Jackson, who retired five years ago, is not one to stand in the way of progress. Sure, its changed he said, but there’s a lot of improvement going on here. Everybody has a good way of life. We have a new doctors office here, a new bank and they are helping this town move along. Anything that helps the community helps the people.
Published U.S. Legacies June 2005
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